Hobbled D'Antoni decides to postpone Lakers debut

LOS ANGELES - Mike D'Antoni is eager to get started in his new job ... admittedly too eager.

The new Lakers coach said last week that he hoped to be on the bench Sunday when the team played Houston at Staples Center. But while his spirit was willing, his reconstructed knee wasn't, and three hours before tipoff, D'Antoni decided to sit out and again leave the coaching to Bernie Bickerstaff.

D'Antoni planned to watch the game from the trainer's room, along with Steve Nash and Steve Blake, while getting treatment.

"I'm a little disappointed; I wanted to be on the bench," said D'Antoni, who is recovering from knee-replacement surgery. "But after talking to (trainer) Gary Vitti ... he convinced me not to do it, and I agreed.

"For one, I don't want to be a sideshow, and two, the biggest problem I have is the energy. It sort of wanes toward the end."

D'Antoni said he expects to be ready to coach possibly Tuesday when the Lakers play the Brooklyn Nets at Staples or Wednesday at Sacramento. Until then, Bickerstaff is in charge of a game plan that has D'Antoni's fingerprints all over it.

D'Antoni has spent the past few days disengaging all remnants of the Princeton offense and installing his up-tempo schemes. He said he would address the team before Sunday's game, at halftime and again afterward.

"Bernie does a great job," D'Antoni said. "The players understand the risk. I do get through practices and that's good, and the next step it could be Tuesday, it could be Wednesday, I don't know yet. But we'll figure it out.

"I wanted to, but it was not meant to be."

The Lakers announced that D'Antoni's brother, Dan, officially has joined the Lakers as an assistant four days after taking over practices. Mike D'Antoni continues to use crutches while guiding practices.

BICKERSTAFF STAYING

D'Antoni said before Sunday's game against Houston that interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff would remain on his staff for the rest of the season. Bickerstaff has been filling in since the Lakers fired Mike Brown and while D'Antoni recuperates from knee replacement surgery.

"Bernie is a good coach and a great guy. He does a super job," D'Antoni said Sunday.

No worries. The Lakers handed the Rockets a 119-108 loss as Bickerstaff improved to 4-1 at the helm.

GASOL REACHES MARK

Lakers forward Pau Gasol hit a jumper with 9:17 left in the third quarter to become the 10th foreign-born player to reach 15,000 points in his NBA career. He also is the first Spaniard to score that many points. Other foreign players to achieve that mark include Hakeem Olajuwon, Dominique Wilkins, Patrick Ewing, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Rolando Blackman, Steve Nash, Kiki Vandeweghe and Detlef Schrempf.